His fingers remained at her neck, because for some reason he couldn’t pull them away. She was out cold. He tapped her cheek. “Ruby. Wake up. No time for slacking.”
She murmured but didn’t begin to revive. He allowed his gaze to drift over her shoulder, her waist, where he saw the outer edge of her new brand. He continued to the curve of her hip and toned legs. She wasn’t a child, much as he’d like to see her that way. Should see her that way. He had no right to look at her and feel a stirring anywhere.
There wasn’t much that aroused him anymore, though he did enjoy the sensual pleasures of life. Right now his body had decided that the sight of her was one of those pleasures. He stood, cursing softly, and dressed.
Ruby flexed her fingers, then opened her eyes the very moment he pulled on his pants. Her gaze went right to him, and she came back to herself in that moment. Flames danced in her eyes now, even as they widened with embarrassment. She sat up and pulled her bent knees close to her, tucking in her feet for as much modesty as she was going to get.
He turned away, picking up her pile of clothing and handing it to her behind his back. “Look at your stomach.”
He heard her soft intake of air. “The rash, it’s…”
“Your Dragon.”
“You looked,” she said, the accusation clear.
“I couldn’t see it. Wrong angle.”
The silence told him she was wondering what he had seen. He heard the shuffle of clothing being pulled on. “I wasn’t able to get control over it.” Anxiety permeated her words. “It took over, like you said it might.”
“You’ll get the hang of it.”
“No, I’m not doing it again. You can turn around now.” She brushed her hair from her face, and he could see fear in the tight lines around her mouth.
He stepped closer, resisting the urge to brush the stray lock of her bangs back in place. “You have to Catalyze again and practice gaining control.”
She shored up her shoulders. “That’s one thing you can’t make me do.”
“I know it scared you—”
“It didn’t scare me. It freaked me out, like I’d been possessed.” Her cheeks reddened, clear enough to see even in the soft light of the candles. “And speaking of, that thing we did, that I did…to you…” She rubbed her fingers across her mouth. “I’ve never done anything like that in my life.”
“Interesting that you’d fixate on that over everything else you just went through.”
“I think that bothered me more. I feel like I don’t know myself anymore, like I no longer have control over every aspect of my being.”
“The Dragon is a sensual creature, and it ignites your own sensuality. You’ll get used to that, too.”
“I don’t have any sensuality to ignite. Why are you smiling at me like that?”
Hmm, he did have a smile on his face. “Because I know that you do now. Let me see your tattoo.”
She lifted the bottom of her shirt, exposing her long waist and the new Dragon peering at him. It spanned from her ribs to below her waistband.
“Beautiful,” he said, drawing his finger down the line of its back.
She froze for a moment, her eyes widening at his touch. Then she moved away, looking anywhere but at him. He noticed she said nothing about the pain she’d endured. Hadn’t whined or complained about any of that. Only the kiss bothered her enough to mention.
His Dragon tingled at the memory of her mouth on his, her tongue sliding against his. Sucking on his. Igniting something inside him, too.
Forget it. You know damned well we can’t—I can’t let that happen again.
She turned to face him. “I can feel a soft electrical current going through me. Is that normal?”
No, it’s this crazy chemistry between us. Then he realized what she probably meant.
“I’m so used to it I hardly notice. What you’re feeling is the Deus Vis, literally the god force. That’s the weird energy, as you put it, that emanates from the crystals that formed the core of Lucifera. It’s what throws off compasses and electrical equipment in the Devil’s Triangle. Some people believe Atlantis is out there because of that energy. After our people came to Florida, they discovered that leaving the Triangle weakened them. If they couldn’t get back, they withered away. Our god essence needs the Deus Vis to survive. That’s why Moncrief had to come back to Miami every two weeks.”
“It just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” At least she didn’t look distressed. More like grimly resolved.
He tuned in to the energy around him. “What’s not normal is the slight fluctuation you’ll feel if you’re sensitive to it. Solar storms affect the Deus Vis, even the flares that precede it. You’ve probably heard the Mundane scientists talking on the news about the large storm that’s predicted to erupt tomorrow. They’re worried about possible interruption of power grids and GPS when the wave hits Earth two days later. Crescents feel it in our bodies.”
“Yeah, they showed a video of the sun’s swirly red spots.”
“Those ‘swirly red spots’ are the flares.”
She made a face at him. “Why do you do that, repeat what I say with this patronizing tone?”
“I assure you, I don’t mean to…patronize you.”
“Augh.” She threw her head back. “I’m sure you don’t.” She gave him a look that indicated her sarcasm. “So will this wave hurt us?”
“It mostly affects people who are already weak. We might get tired, irritable.”
Her expression grew somber. “The newspaper articles I read at the library speculated that the boating accident was due to the Triangle’s weirdness. Well, they had the weird part right anyway.” She grew silent for a few seconds, her frown deepening. “They made my father out to be some whacked-out bad guy.”
“All I know is what Brom told me. He saw a vision of mass death because of something affecting the Deus Vis and knew it was connected to a project your father was working on. Justin was secretive about the project, but it appears that Brom’s warning was a wake-up call. Days later, Justin sabotaged his work and went on the run. For that, he was executed.”
Ruby swallowed hard. “Why kill my mother? She wasn’t involved in any project.”
Looking back, Cyn now saw a Dragon fighting to protect her young rather than a villain. The memory stabbed him harder than any of her fiery spikes ever could.
Ruby pointed to herself. “And they wanted me dead. Me, a kid!”
“The assassin was probably ordered to take out everyone on the boat so there would be no witnesses.”
“Who gave the order?”
Cyn’s chest tightened. He had to be careful. There were things she couldn’t know yet. She would hate him, would never work with him. He wanted to tell her as much of the truth as he could, though, so she would understand.
“It came through the Guard.”
“What kind of police agency has assassins?”
“Our government and police force are primarily in place to keep the balance between the different classes of Crescents and to enforce Rule Number One.”
“Mon mentioned that, and so did Leo. What is it?”
Cyn leaned against the wall. “Never reveal your magick. If the Crescent is found to have revealed the Hidden out of recklessness, he or she is terminated. If it was an accident, and the Mundane can’t be memory wiped, he dies.”
“So the Guard goes around killing people?”
“Not always. Generally they act in a right and just way.”